Girls hockey team tops Wilmington, 7-1

McKenzie Clark lit the lamp for four goals to lead the Winthrop Lady Bulldogs hockey team to a 7-1 win over Wilmington on Monday. The victory lifts Coach Anthony Martucci’s crew to a 4-2-4 record on the season. The Lady Bulldogs have 12 points and need six more to qualify for a state tourney berth as they embark on the second half of the 2009-2010 campaign.

Also potting goals for Winthrop were Taylor Brown, Lindsay Barker (assisted by Chelsey Bartlett and Rachel Mailhot), and Caroline McKinnon, a seventh grader who scored her first career varsity goal.

“This was a big win for us because Wilmington is a league rival,” said Martucci. “Our goals are to qualify for the tourney and to win the league title.”

The triumph also represented a nice rebound after a 2-0 loss at Cathedral of Springfield on Saturday. The contest represented the return match of the teams’ first encounter the week before at Larsen, which also was won by Cathedral.

“We played well and had a lot of chances to score, but we just couldn’t put the puck in the net,” said Martucci. “But give Cathedral credit because they’re a good team and they played a good game,” added the coach about the western Mass. squad that is responsible for Winthrop’s lone losses this season.

Martucci cited the continued strong play of his goaltender, Katie Burt, who turned aside some 30 shots against Cathedral. The coach also noted the efforts of a pair of sixth graders, Emma Rudger and Julianne Kennedy, both of whom have exhibited solid play at the blue line.

The girls next will be back in action this Saturday when they host Marblehead at Larsen at 7:20. “This is a big game for us because Marblehead is another league foe and they tied us the first time we played,” said Martucci. “So we’ll be looking to go all out and come away with a victory.”